Fantasy Island (U.S. amusement park)

Fantasy Island was founded by real estate developer Lawrence Grant, and was opened on July 1, 1961. It was designed by co-financier and local jeweler Gerald Birzon and constructed by Milton Milstein and Associates.[1] The ownership group was formed under the name Fantasy Land, Inc. before changing soon after to Fantasy Island, Inc. The group had originally planned to call the park Fantasy Land, but changed the name for legal reasons after finding out there was already an area of Disneyland called Fantasyland.[2] Originally, the park occupied only 12 acres (49,000 m²) of land that was divided into five themed areas: Action Town, Animal Kingdom, Garden of Fables, Indian Village and Western Town.[3] Western Town, a live Wild West show, remained a staple of the park throughout its existence.[4] To promote the park, WGR-TV aired a live weekly television program on Saturday mornings from 1961 to 1962 titled Fantasy Island Show featuring the park's characters and puppeteers performing for an all-children studio audience. The show's host and protagonist was Buckskin Joe, portrayed by park general manager Clyde "Buddy" Farnan.[5][6] A 2,500-seat outdoor arena was constructed in 1965 for French lion tamer Jean "Tarzan" Zerbini's circus.[7] The park was expanded to 85 acres (340,000 m²) in 1974 to make room for adult rides and broaden the park's appeal.[8] After dwindling attendance stemming from Western New York's rust belt economic decline, Fantasy Island, Inc. declared bankruptcy and the park did not operate for the 1982 season.

It was acquired out of bankruptcy in November 1982 by Charles R. Wood Enterprises, headed by Charles Wood, founder of Great Escape in Queensbury, New York.[9] A new themed area called Water World, a water park, was added to the site in 1984. Wood sold the park along with Great Escape to International Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) in April 1989 for $36 million.[10] As part of the deal, Wood would stay on as chief executive officer of the park and his son-in-law, Tom Wages, was retained as general manager.[11] Following the closure of nearby Crystal Beach Park after the 1989 season, that park's famed Comet roller coaster was purchased by Charles Wood at auction in October 1989 for $210,000, disassembled and stored indefinitely at Fantasy Island.[12]

In June 1990, Michael Murach was paralyzed from the head down while performing a high diving act at the park when he slipped on a 3-meter diving board during a comedy act and fell 20-feet, hitting his head on the edge of the concrete pool. Murach was years later awarded damages of $58.6 million after a jury found International Broadcasting Corporation 100% liable for his injury. The end of the diving board was not installed at a proper distance away from the edge of the pool to prevent such an incident from occurring. [13] In August 1991, 14-year-old Kenneth Margerum fell 60 feet (18 m) to his death from the park's Ferris wheel after his seat dropped from its axle. It was revealed that the park operators routinely removed one or two seats from the ride each day to prevent the ride from moving around in high winds during off-hours. Each time the ride opened, the seats were bolted back onto the frame of the ride. Investigators found that only one side of the victim's seat had been bolted properly, causing Margerum's seat to drop from its axle and subsequently leading to his death.[14] Attendance began to dwindle yet again as parents became concerned over the park's safety following Margerum's death.

Wood reacquired the park along with Great Escape in October 1992 for $14 million when International Broadcasting Corporation went bankrupt. In his second stint of ownership, Wood changed the park's name to Two Flags Over Niagara Fun Park.

DiPietro, who began running Martin's Shows, purchased the park and renamed it Martin's Fantasy Island.[15] Wood took the original Comet roller coaster and reassembled it at his Great Escape park later that year.[16] DiPietro would install his own roller coaster named the Silver Comet in 1999 that was inspired by the original.[17]

After 22 years, on May 14, 2016, DiPietro sold the land to STORE Capital and Apex Parks Group leased the property starting in May 2016. For the 2017 season, the park's name changed to Fantasy Island Niagara's Amusement & Water Park.[18][19] For the 2018 season, there were many new improvements. It started with the former Garden of Fables being revamped and renamed Fairytale Forest which features rides, shows, attractions. Oakley the talking tree and If the shoe fits shows were also added. A Kiddie Ferris Wheel called Cinderella's Midnight Magic Wheel was also added (Previously operated at Indiana Beach). Another improvement for the 2018 season was the water park was revamped and rebranded as Splashaway Bay. The former Raging Rapids slides were refurbished and renamed Double Dare Falls, Cabanas were constructed and the snack bar was renamed Splashaway Cafe. Towards the end of the season, Full Tilt was repainted and renamed Tilt & Shout as well. Reports surfaced in 2018 and 2019 that the general condition of the park had deteriorated, with many attractions not operational due to either mechanical failure or under-staffing.[20] [21] Fantasy Island's final day of operation was on October 27, 2019, as the park celebrated "Halloween Horror," which was Fantasy Island's annual Halloween event.[22] On February 19, 2020, following reports that Apex Parks Group had put the park's rides up for sale, the company confirmed that the park had permanently closed.[23][24] A large public outcry prompted lawmakers to demand Apex Parks Group refund the money it had already collected for 2020 season passes.[25] Apex Parks Group continued to search for a buyer for the park and noted that additional potential buyers had come forward following the announcement of the park's closure and that it would explore alternative solutions other than closing the park in cooperation with local government officials.[26] However, trucks were seen on the property taking out restaurant equipment.[27] A settlement was reached with the Attorney General's office to refund customers that had prepaid for season passes.[28] The closure of Fantasy Island meant that Darien Lake would be the only theme park in the region.

On June 16, 2020, WKBW and Grand Island Town Supervisor John Whitney reported that a local group of investors known as "Empire Adventures" expressed interested in the park with hopes of having it open for the 2021 season.[29] It was said that they were trying to outright buy the property but if that doesn't work then they would lease the property. Whitney has been getting several emails from people about bad smells coming from the property along with vandalism being reported. On July 1, 2020, two weeks after WKBW's report, Empire Adventures, an amusement park company based in Western New York, announced plans to reopen Fantasy Island for the 2021 season.[30] Empire Adventures added that the park would reopen through a five-year, three-phase plan.[31]